If one has little capacity for doing or understanding science, then, naturally, one would have little interest in science.

I don’t think this is accurate.

Well, for example, in my past vocation, I have known many individuals who have had moderate, severe and profound intellectual challenges. None, that I recall, showed indications of “interest in science”.

Individuals as those would not, but a person without those challenges can find something interesting without really having the capacity to do it, or be really good at it; sports immediately comes to mind. I find most science (not all) to be fascinating, but I don’t have the ability to be a scientist or understand all concepts in science.

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“I am back from Syria. I believe I have enlightened ISIS to the error of their ways. They are all vegan now.” - Godfrey Elfwick

The question is, would Homer have ever been particularly interested in science, if his teacher had not inspired him to learn the science of rocketry. Were there other potential Homer Hickhams who never became interested in science, because they were not “inspired”?

Good point Tim and all the more reason to be an effective teacher but as Edison said, “success is one percent inspiration and ninety nine percent perspiration” meaning the interest lies with the individual. Unless you live completely divorced from the media there are many ways to be inspired to pursue an interest. Of course you have to have an IQ of at least 100.

If one has little capacity for doing or understanding science, then, naturally, one would have little interest in science.

I don’t think this is accurate.

Well, for example, in my past vocation, I have known many individuals who have had moderate, severe and profound intellectual challenges. None, that I recall, showed indications of “interest in science”.

Individuals as those would not, but a person without those challenges can find something interesting without really having the capacity to do it, or be really good at it; sports immediately comes to mind. I find most science (not all) to be fascinating, but I don’t have the ability to be a scientist or understand all concepts in science.

True. I recall one young lady who had profound intellectual challenges who seemed to like football. She seemed to find it very funny whenever players fell down or were tackled.

But I suggest, that you or I, given an increased standard deviation in IQ, might find science to be even more enjoyable and fascinating.

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As a fabrication of our own consciousness, our assignations of meaning are no less “real”, but since humans and the fabrications of our consciousness are routinely fraught with error, it makes sense, to me, to, sometimes, question such fabrications.

Ian Banks died recently and his science fiction works have been significant among SF readers. I was never a fan of his though.

I have finally finished Look to Windward. It is a significantly more interesting story than Player of Games, which is the only other Banks book I have completed. But it is a much more annoying read than PoG.

LtW has three main characters and Banks jumps between them in the telling of the story. Additionally one character is explained in lots of falshbacks so in addition to jumps between characters there are jumps in time. By the way this flashbacked character has another mind implanted in his brain with a device called a soul keeper. I must have backtracked in the book about 10 times to try to understand what was going on.

When the 3rd character is introduced he is hanging upside down and is a human in a non-human body. That is a technological capability in The Culture. Regrowing and transferring bodies is common. But this upside down character drops something like a pen called a “stilo”. He then dithers before deciding to drop after it But what is obvious is that just falling he can’t possibly catch especially since he is bigger and must have greater air resistance. But Banks does not make this obvious physics clear in the way he writes.

But that dropping of the “stilo” where the Newtonian physics with gravity didn’t make sense was important since that is what led the character into getting involved in the whole plot of the story. I get the impression that gravity in the airsphere must be less than the Moon’s but Banks never says that. And characters walk around as though it is Earth normal, Banks never gives the impression the gravity is different. But it takes less than 3 seconds for a falling object to reach 22 m/s in 1 G and about 22 seconds for that to happen on the Moon. The fall seems to take a rather long time as Banks describes it. That is why I think it must be less than lunar gravity. That is why propellers could work on someone’s ankles.

I suppose Bank’s books are really an explanation of The Culture via these characters and not how anything really works.

So for me LtW was better and worse than PoG. I don’t think I will be exploring Banks works any further. I can’t really take The Culture very seriously. So I can only recommend his stuff with caution, depending on the reader’s tastes.

[42,585]
psik

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Physics is Phutile
Fiziks is Fundamental
Since 9/11 Physics has been History

Ian Banks died recently and his science fiction works have been significant among SF readers. I was never a fan of his though.

psik

I’m a fan of Ian M. Banks sci fi and just finished his last book The Hydrogen Sonata.

Wrote a note an another spot in the forums—cross-referencing here—
Banks was an atheist and his Culture books overall expressed an optimistic view of a future galaxy where liberal ideas succeed. This far future is an amazing place.

I’ve read all the sci-fi books and can generate a short summary—but not here. They vary in construction/layout. “Look to Windward” is different from the rest and very difficult to read.Consider Phlebas is a more straightforward example [wikipedia link tells the whole plot so not giving the link] and has the background of an enormous war between the Culture and another
civilization obsessed with religion.

One of my favorites is Against a Dark Background, which is not set in the Culture but also has some crazy religionists filling part of the story.

This last book the Hydrogen Sonata is serious in some places and yet takes a Douglas Adams ‘crazy universe’ angle in others, emphasizing the eccentricities in the
far future when all things are possible. One central point of the story revolves around how the Culture should respond to finding out that the religion of another
civilization might be based on a fraud. Thus the book ties into the question many of us have—is it our responsibility to tell relatives that really there isn’t any God, or
to just let it be.

Near the end of the book we have the quote p.500

...that’s just in theory. In practice, people don’t believe for good reasons anyway, they just believe and that’s it, like we don’t love
for good reasons, we just love because we need to love.

Consider Phlebas is a more straightforward example [wikipedia link tells the whole plot so not giving the link] and has the background of an enormous war between the Culture and another
civilization obsessed with religion.

I gave up on Consider Phlebas about 2/3rds through. It just seemed like random gratuitous violence to me.

There was a religious factor in Look to Windward also. It involved getting 4.5 billion aliens into heaven. The story was difficult enough to understand with all of the jumping around between characters and time I didn’t focus on that aspect.

I think it suffers from the same problem as the first Dune movie with Sting and Patrick Stewart. The movie isn’t long enough for the story. Another 30 minutes could have changed it from OK to very good. The first Harry Potter movie is 30 minutes longer the Ender’s Game‘s two hours.

So unfortunately it was mostly the disappointment I was expecting compared to the book.

If you like the movie but have not read the book then you should read the book.

psik

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Physics is Phutile
Fiziks is Fundamental
Since 9/11 Physics has been History

Recently I finally found and picked up all four seasons of one of my all time favorite TV shows: Lexx. It was a Canadian-German sci-fi show from the late 90s about a group of four weirdos who accidentally steal the Lexx, an enormous living space ship shaped like a wingless dragonfly that is also the most powerful force of destruction ever made. The show follows their wanderings as they look for a new home and run from various bizarre enemies. Like Mantrid, a human/insect/machine hybrid who ends up using his self-replicating drones to destroy and convert over 60% of the Light Zone’s (universe’s) mass to his own drones. The show was weird, deranged, endlessly creative, hilarious, and often rather surreal. Damn, I missed this show.

EDIT
Fixed a brain fart.

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“Ah, I love your religion - for the crazy! Virgin birth, water into wine; it’s like Harry Potter, but it causes genocide and bad folk music.” -Roger Smith

This is a story about the immediate future though it starts in 1995 introducing the main characters. A neuroscientist is working on her PhD. Ultimately it is about education via tablets if the proper software is developed.

Wattpad says it is 16 pages but it is more like 35 book pages.

psik

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Physics is Phutile
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Since 9/11 Physics has been History

I just finished Ready Player One. I was seriously impressed. I had heard of it but ignored it because it was admittedly about a video gamer and gamer culture. I broke down and listened to the audiobook because of a couple of Youtube reviews I watched.

I find the portrayal of 2045 quite interesting even though that is not what is emphasized in the story. But the way I conceptualize a story it cannot just be what is happening in the virtual world, the characters have to deal with both. There is a Groucho Marx quote in the story that I never heard.

“I’m not crazy about reality, but it’s still the only place to get a decent meal.”

I also listened to The Three Body Problem. It gets lots of PR but I would not have written this post because of it.

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Physics is Phutile
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Since 9/11 Physics has been History